Audi’s trademark hexagonal grille design will again dominate the front end, flanked by a new scalpel-like evolution of the brand’s stepped headlight design.

Van Overbeeke's rendering also takes a leaf from the R8 Spider’s playbook, doing away with the coupe’s nearly iconic side blades.

It seems likely however that those blades will appear again with the new model, with recent spy photos hitting at their presence beneath the black camouflage.

The new R8 is expected to get revised versions of the current model’s 4.2 V8 and 5.2 V10 engines - the latter already available with the new Lamborghini Huracan.

Outputs for the current R8 are listed at 316kW/430Nm with the 4.2 litre engine and 386kW/530Nm for the 5.2 litre V10, while the ‘V10 Plus’ lifts power to 404kW/540Nm.

In the new Huracan, which replaces the R8’s Gallardo cousin, the 5.2 V10 produces 448kW and 560Nm of torque, boasting a 0-100km/h time of just 3.2 seconds.

We can also expect the manual version to be killed-off with the updated model, which is expected to offer the S-tronic automatic only.

The new R8 will be lighter yet stronger than the outgoing model, and will provide the basis for the R8 e-tron EV performer, confirmed by Audi recently for a production run based entirely on orders received.

Recent reports have also hinted at a diesel option for the new R8, suggesting Audi’s 4.0 litre TDI V8 or the brand-new 5.0 litre TDI V10 could provide motivation.

Expect the 2016 Audi R8 to debut at a European motor show sometime toward the end of next year.

High-performance diesel options could even prove to be a new range-wide direction for Audi, if May’s 287kW diesel-electric RS 5 concept is any indication.